MAHB not ruling out malicious intent behind KLIA glitch

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is not ruling out the possibility that the recent network failure at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and KLIA2 was caused by an “act of malicious intent”.

MAHB group chief executive officer Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin said that the organisation will let the authorities handle the situation.

He said MAHB remains committed to providing the highest quality of service, and will continue to monitor the situation and ensure that smooth operations remain.

“The airport operator has not ruled out the possibility that the failure was caused by an act of malicious intent.

“Nevertheless, we will put this in the hands of the authorities to do a full investigation on the matter, ” he said this in a statement Monday (Aug 26).

Raja Azmi said that despite the network disruption in the last several days, the group wishes to reassure the public that security at the airport remains intact.

“This is possible due to the close cooperation given by the Immigration Department and the police.

“While we have extended all possible assistance to the airlines during this period, the same level of assistance, cooperation and understanding was also given to us by the airlines.

“We would like to take this opportunity to once again express our sincere gratitude to our airline and agency stakeholders for coming together and providing the best fall-back solutions, ” he added.

He also thanked all passengers and the public for their patience and kind understanding.

The systems disruption, which began last Wednesday (Aug 21), had affected key functions at the airports, such as the WiFi connection, flight information display system, check-in counters and the baggage handling system.

Scores of flights were delayed as a result, with many passengers unhappy over the situation.

National Cyber Security Agency (Nacsa) said no evidence of a cyberattack was detected.

It added that the preliminary findings by MAHB indicated that the disruption was due to network equipment failure.